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Step 1: Video Instructable! Slackers Unite!

Here is my video instructable on balance boards. To view exact dimensions, continue on to the the next steps, if you don't care, enjoy my video, and maybe check out a few of my others ;D

yay!

Step 2: First Step! Cleaning and Prepping!

I have a few skate decks lying around, two are old school, two are too expensive to destroy, so i went for the board out back, the one my friends and I use to jump of the deck in the summer.

It was "hella" dirty, water damaged, and covered in snow.

First I ran it under a warm bath to melt any snow/ice and remove large debris.

Secondly, I took a coarse brush and removed the finer dirt.

I then used a combination of bleach, industrial de-greaser, floor stripper, and plain hand soap -_- to remove any guck.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO WEAR HAND AND EYE PROTECTION WHILE USING HARSH CHEMICALS, don't take my video as an example. Please don't model after my stupidity.

Lastly, Once dried, I using a combination of sandpapers, a belt sander and a detail sander, to make a nice, smooth, clean surface to work with.

Now the board is prepped for assembly.

Step 3: Building Stuff!

Because we want to have fun, and not severely injure ourselves, we make stoppers on either side of the board, so we don't go flying of in the event of an over balance, shall I say...

I used pine board left over from a homemade t.v. stand, anything works.As long as it can be secured tightly to the board.

I cut two blocks about 1 inch wide by 3 inches long.

I then applied polyurethane glue to both the board and the stopper.

Next, drill some pilot holes, because pine is stupid, and it splits. Then insert some screws that wll go all the way through. If you are cool, like me....or just plain Canadian, you will use Robinson screws, because they are the utmost best screws on earth!

I put four screws on each stopper, so the block would conform to the decks concave.

Now you won't fall....

I've used my x-ray in past instructables. Just remember, if you don't make stoppers, your arm could end up like this, and oh boy, you don't want that! This is my left humerus about 2 months ago.

Step 4: What to Do With Those Spikes...

Now that you have stoppers, you have some crazy spikes coming out from the blocks. These are called screws. Now we don't want to ruin mom and dad's nice hardwood floors do we?

Take a dremel, if you don't have one, try and borrow one...they are amazing

You want a cut-off whell. I used a 1/26th thickness because the disc wears out after about 4 cuts...

Just put on some eye protection and start cutting off the sticky outy screws by placing the spinning disc firmly on the side of the screw. Don't use too much force, or the disc will shatter.

Now that you don't have spikes....you have some crazy mess on the stoppers, this is called BURNT WOOD AND METAL DUST! WOOO!

we can take care of this in the next step...

Step 5: Clean Up...

Now you want to take sandpaper, starting with coarse, and ending with fine. Give a good sand job. Sand away all of the metal dust and burn marks. Don't sand the bottom surface too much, as you still need it rough, so you don't slide off your roller.

Also, I used some foam weather strip to place over top of the screws to protect against scratching. To do this, just cut the foam strip to the length of the stopper, peel of the white paper, and stick it on over top of the screws.

ON TO STEP SIX!

Step 6: Last But Not Least....

Of course...you need something to roll on.

In my video, i used a coleman water chiller holder thingy...don't use this...you need something very hard, that won't bend under pressure.

The best solution is ABS or PVC pipe...It will run ya about 10-13 bucks at home depot...but definatley worth it, great stuff.

I find that anything in between 3 3/4 to 4 3/4 inches in diameter work well.

One thing you nead to remember is that the longer your board is, the bigger diamter tube you need...

Lastly, you want the roller to be cut slightly shorter than the acutal board itself. So let's say, if your board was 1 1/2 feet wide, you would want a 1 1/4 foot roller.

I have 3 sizes, for 3 different boards, but I like to play around with the rollers for a challenge.

That is pretty much it. Go build a fun toy, but remember to stay safe but still build cool, stuff....

Hey! That break looks exactly like the one my physics teacher got from falling on his snowboard! (Totally ironic and hilarious due to the two lessons that he taught us after on how to fall properly when snowboarding)

Nice job with the balance board! I've been promising myself one for three years now, just haven't gotten to it yet =/

How did you get such a clean break in your shoulder? None of my broken bones are that clean.
Also, remember that you can edit your Instructable. A few screen captures from the video would do worlds of good, as would a little bit of proofreading. The title of step 1 is really jumping out at me...

lol my bad, I was typing late at night on my laptop, i will fix it later tonight after work...(mcdonalds ugh)
About the bone, I was wrestling with friends ( i know, how stupid ) and I was tackled with my forearm pressing up against my good friend max's chest. I came down and just heard the crack, don't remember much else...